Will You Be My Rival?
by Macey Muse
Summary: Touya Kouyo was a boy with a mission.


Once upon a time, in a land a long, long way from here, there lived a very sad little boy. This little boy's name was Touya Kouyo. He was a very lucky boy in many ways - he was clever and neat, and his parents were always proud of him.

There was one thing in the world, though, that Kouyo loved more than anything. More than afternoons spent sat on the tatami near the kitchen, watching his mother cook. More than ice-cream in the summer. More, even, than feeding the little birds who would sometimes come and play in the pool behind the house.

The thing that Kouyo loved most in all the world was playing Go.

He loved the smooth, cool feeling of the stones between his fingers. He loved the beautiful patterns in the wood of the go-ban. He loved the crisp 'pa-chi' when he played a hand, and he loved, more than anything, watching the black and white stones chase each other across the board, like they were playing an endless game of 'tag'.

But you see, Go was never meant to be a game for one. And that was why Kouyo was such a sad little boy. Kouyo had no rival. There was no-one sitting across the board from him, waiting eagerly to play.

So, one sunny weekend morning, when the sky was blue and the air fresh, Kouyo picked up a go-ke from the shelf where they were stored, and set off to find himself a rival.

Kouyo-kun asked his mother first, of course. He found her in the back room, folding laundry fresh from the washing line.

"Mother, will you be my rival?" he asked, holding out the go-ke. "We could play Go all day, together!" He looked up at her hopefully. Kouyo's mother was pretty and clever and she would never get angry or shout at him if they were rivals.

But she laughed and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Kouyo, but I couldn't possibly be your rival – I'm already your mother, and that's a lot of hard work!"

Kouyo frowned. "But I'd be very good, and help you with laundry, and then you'd be finished quicker so we could play Go for the rest of the day!" He took the corner of a sheet and flipped it straight, like he could see his mother doing; it twisted in the air and wrapped both his arms up.

She laughed again and pulled him loose. "You see, Kouyo? There are some things that it's better for me to do, as your mother, and I'm afraid I just don't have any time to be your rival as well."

Sadly, Kouyo nodded. Perhaps she was right – she was the best mother in the world, but maybe she wouldn't be the best rival, if she was so busy. He said goodbye to his mother and walked away, wondering where he should look for a rival, next.

He didn't have to look far. In the kitchen, Kura-chan was sitting cleaning her paws in a pool of sunlight by the fridge. Kouyo wasn't sure whether cats enjoyed playing Go, but _he_ enjoyed playing Go, even if his father's business friends always said he was far too young. It wasn't fair, Kouyo decided, to let other people make decisions about what you liked without asking you. He'd give Kura-chan a chance to decide for herself.

"Kura-chan, will you be my rival?" Kouyo asked hopefully. He offered her a piece of tuna – Kura-chan liked tuna. Kura-chan liked salmon, too, but last time Kouyo had given her a piece from the fridge, Mother had frowned a lot and made her sit out in the cold.

Kura-chan ate the tuna and licked Kouyo's fingers. She mrrow-ed happily.

Kouyo dipped his hand into a go-ke and pulled out a black stone – it was, after all, only fair to let a new opponent go first. He held it out towards Kura-chan, but she just batted at it until it fell to the floor.

Cats, Kouyo concluded, did not make good rivals.

Grandfathers, on the other hand…

Kouyo smiled as the idea popped into his head. At this time of day, Grandfather would probably be sitting in his room, reading. He always said that he didn't mind when Kouyo came and talked with him, and he _did_ enjoy Go nearly as much as Kouyo.

Excited, Kouyo poked his head around Grandfather's sliding door. He _was_ reading – the book looked thick, and the title on the side was written in kanji Kouyo hadn't learnt yet. "Grandfather, may I ask you a question?"

Grandfather set down his book. "Of course, Kouyo-kun – what would you like to know?"

Kouyo walked to his side and knelt on the floor, still holding tight to his go-ke. "Would you be my rival, grandfather? Please?"

His grandfather turned to look straight at him. "Well now, that is a serious request. You know how much I love playing Go with you."

At this, Kouyo smiled – playing Go with his grandfather was his favorite thing to do. If they were rivals, they'd _have_ to play Go all the time. And that would be _perfect_.

"But Kouyo-kun, you also know that I am much older than you are. I get tired easily, and I don't have the energy you do any more. It would be selfish of me to claim you as a rival when you could be battling with someone your own age instead."

Kouyo tried not to frown, "Grandfather, I don't mind if you get tired – I do too sometimes. You could still be my rival!"

Grandfather smiled, just a little bit. "You're growing, Kouyo-kun, and won't be tired for much longer, but I can't grow any more. No. I will still play you, but I'm afraid we can't be rivals."

Sadly, Kouyo stood up and bowed before he left Grandfather to read. He didn't think it was fair that Grandfather was so tired, but Mother always said that when things weren't fair, you did the best you could. And Grandfather would keep playing, which made it a little better.

So far, his search for a rival hadn't gone very well. He'd asked three times, and each time he'd been turned down. Kouyo walked out into the garden; it was peaceful and very pretty. He sat down on the edge of the deck for a rest, swinging his feet through the rail.

Kouyo stared at the clouds. 'Maybe they will be my rival,' he thought to himself, quietly. He watched them swirl and twirl across the sky, blue and white, then white and blue, then blue and white again. Just like tag.

Kouyo didn't bother to ask the clouds – just from watching, he could tell that they had already found their rival in the clear blue sky. With a sigh, he lay back to watch them chase. It was warm on the decking, and so quiet that Kouyo found his eyes slowly drifting shut…

There was something tapping his shoulder, tap-tap, tap – Kouyo swatted at it, and it yelped. He opened his eyes.

There was a boy kneeling beside him, sucking a finger and glaring at him. "… I'm sorry?" Kouyo offered, a bit confused. He'd thought there was no-one else here.

"S'ok, I guess. It didn't hurt _that_ much." The other boy had short, messy hair and a baggy shirt. Kouyo was sure he'd never seen him before. "B'sides, what're you doing, sleeping outside with a box of pebbles?"

"They're not pebbles; they're Go stones," Kouyo explained. He sat up. "And I'm looking for a rival."

"…by falling asleep?"

Kouyo looked at his feet. "That wasn't part of the plan," he admitted. He tucked his feet under his legs and crossed his hands.

The other boy picked up a Go stone from the go-ke, turning it round in his fingers. "Is Go fun?" he asked suddenly.

"Go is more than fun! Go is the _best_ thing to do in the world! Go – "

The other boy laughed. Kouyo almost frowned, but he was interrupted – "All right, I get it, Go is the best thing ever." The boy ran a finger through the stones, and they clinked together like wind chimes. "If you really want, I – I don't know how to play yet, but it sounds cool, and you could teach me – I'll be your rival. I want to. If that's ok?"

Kouyo blinked, then smiled widely. He'd asked so many times that he'd almost given up on finding a rival at all, and now someone wanted to, even without being asked? "O-of course! Yes!" They could go back inside to the sitting room and take out the goban, and then Kouyo could show him how to nigiri, and –

There was only one small problem.

"Oh! I'm Touya Kouyo; may I have your name?"

"My name?" The other boy grinned, "I'm Morishita Shigeharu!"

Kouyo scrambled up and bowed, "It's nice to meet you, Morishita-kun! I hope we'll be good friends."

Morishita-kun stood and laughed. "You're really formal, aren't you? But I bet we will be; Go will never know what's hit it!"

And with that, Kouyo led the way back to the goban, for what would surely be the first game of thousands to come.


End file.
